Defending Champion Max Verstappen Reveals What Keeps Him One Step Ahead of Everyone Else

Sabyasachi Biswas | 13/04/2023
Defending Champion Max Verstappen Reveals What Keeps Him One Step Ahead of Everyone Else

Max Verstappen has recently opened up on what makes him stay ahead of everyone else. The Dutchman revealed what he does as a distraction and keeps him ready to go always while everyone else goes on vacation.

In a recent interview with former Red Bull star David Coulthard, Verstappen shared that he enjoys Sim Racing when he has free time. The Dutch pilot said he spends a lot of time on the set-up as well and this makes him ready and be one step ahead of everyone else.

Max, in reply to DC’s question on what his positive distraction away from the track is: “Sim racing, because it keeps me ready to go”
by u/OutlandishnessPure2 in formula1

He also stated that he doesn’t race an F1 car in the sim race setup. Instead, he jumps into the GT car. He does this in order to gather different techniques of driving and test himself in different environments.

The 25-year-old also shared how he loves to see himself against the sim drivers. The sim drivers are really quick, but they don’t have real experience with a car, which makes things really interesting, asserted Verstappen.

Verstappen holds sim drivers as a benchmark

The Red Bull star has also revealed during the interview that he holds the simulation drivers as the benchmark. The sim drivers are really quick on the set-up, which becomes a target for Dutchman.

In the interview, he stated that the sim drivers’ method of braking and use of throttle makes it look fascinating to him. This comes despite not having any experience driving any real race car.

The former Toro Rosso man then said that he compares himself to them because they’re naturally quick on the simulator, while he’s naturally quick in real. This, he regards as a benchmark and works on them to be quick on track.

Max Verstappen is regarded to be ruthless on track, more than Lewis Hamilton

FIA press conference host Tom Clarkson has recently talked about Verstappen’s ruthlessness on track and how he competes intending to destroy everyone.

Clarkson said during the F1 Nation Podcast that Verstappen absolutely destroys his opposition when he’s on track. He’s the driver with the most hunger for success and there’s nobody that can match that at the moment, he added.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are considered to be very competitive, but not at the level of Max Verstappen, he believes. This was pretty evident when the Dutch pilot finished in P2 despite starting from P15 and was still unhappy. As he was not happy, he went on to say that he was not here to finish second.

Post Edited By: Samriddhi Jaiswal
Charles Leclerc David Coulthard Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Sergio Perez Tom Clarkson

About the author

Avatar photo

Sabyasachi Biswas

Sabyasachi Biswas is an F1 journalist at The SportsRush. With over one and a half decades of love for the sport and five years of experience in the field, he dreams to be a regular at the paddock when the lights go out. A Red Bull fan and F1 fan in general over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen dominate the track. Apart from F1, he's also a big-time Madridista and Federer fanatic. He was a sub-junior level footballer, won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak throughout, he tries different cuisines and learns new cultures whenever he's away from the keyboard.

Don’t miss these